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5 questions facing Rutgers football program in ’10

Greg Schiano is not unlike most coaches, never satisfied with his team’s results and always concerned about the next opponent. So when the Rutgers skipper was asked whether his team is game-ready, Schiano said, in typical coach-speak, “”We’re not ready. But I don’t know how many teams are really ready for their first game. We’re going to do everything we can to be as ready as we can be. The kids are working hard. You can do scrimmages, you can do those things, but we’ll go out and play the best we can.”

Certainly Schiano is more focused on his team’s negatives than he is on all the positives, and heading into the 2010 campaign — his 10th at Rutgers — there appears to be plenty of both.

“”We got a long way to go but we’ll be a much better team in November than we will be in September,” Schiano said. “”I hope that what we are in September is going to be good enough. I can’t control anybody else. We’ll try to be the best we can be.”

Here are the five biggest questions facing the Rutgers football program heading into the season:

1. Is an offensive line that Schiano calls “”a work in progress” good enough to win now?

While the offensive linemen — LT Desmond Stapleton, LG Desmond Wynn, C Howard Barbieri, RG Caleb Ruch and RT Art Forst — who began the preseason as starters will line up in the opener, there’s no guarantee the same five will be lining up beyond Norfolk State. More than anything, the opener will be their first true test to prove the biggest question of the offseason has been answered in the affirmative.

“”We’re just not there yet,” Schiano said last week. “”But you know, if you polled 120 Division 1 coaches there would be very few who say their offensive line is where they want it. We’ve got to get better.”

For as concerning as the o-line is, remember last year’s unit, which returned all five starters from ’08, didn’t exactly dominate. In fact, Schiano never was really satisfied with his o-line play, tinkering with different personnel throughout the season.

So it’s not like this year’s untested unit has a whole lot to live up to this fall.

2. Will Rutgers be more productive in its running game this season?

Though Rutgers’ 1,747 rushing yards last season was respectable, only 664 (or 38 percent) of that total came in its seven Big East games. Worse, Rutgers rushed for 86 yards or fewer in five of its seven Big East games and there were times when the only semblance of a rushing attack was Mohamed Sanu engineering the Wildcat.

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano has made no secret that the team needs to be more productive, pointing at Joe Martinek, who rushed for 967 yards and nine touchdowns last fall, to lead that charge. There’s no doubt Martinek will have a role in this offense, but the fourth-year junior will be pushed by Jordan Thomas, a true freshman who flashed game-breaking speed at times this summer. While Kordell Young will continue to have a role as the third-down back, look for true freshman Casey Turner or sophomore De’Antwan Williams to also get looks if Martinek struggles or Thomas proves not game-ready.

3. If the offense struggles, will the defense be good enough to win games?

For as dominant as the defense was at times last season, a case can be made that Rutgers didn’t play winning defense in five of its seven Big East contests. Now, a defense that returns six starters and boasts a ton of game-experience on the line is being counted on to be the strength of this year’s team.

Judging by the two intrasquad scrimmages in which the unit held the first-team offense to just three touchdowns, this is a defense with the potential to be among the elite in the Big East.

“”No one wants the offense to struggle,” linebacker Antonio Lowery says, “”But our job is to prevent teams from scoring, so that’s what we gotta do. When we come out there with that mentality, good things happen.”

4. Will Rutgers fans provide the support necessary to lift the Scarlet Knights this season?

When it’s rocking at full capacity, Rutgers Stadium is truly a home field advantage for the Scarlet Knights. But it’s been a year since Rutgers put the finishing touches on its $102 expansion project and the curiousity factor of seeing an expanded Rutgers Stadium is gone.

That Rutgers averaged 49,113 fans in its 52,454-capacity stadium wasn’t terrible, but it certainly wasn’t great, either. In fact, there were several games in which the crowd figure announced by Rutgers appeared far less than the actual attendance last season.

Is it too much to expect that average to exceed 50,000 this fall? West Virginia (57,317), Pitt (53,446) and USF (52,553) all exceeded it, and it could be argued that only the Mountaineers boast a more loyal fan base than Rutgers is perceived to own.

Rutgers has risen from the dregs of college football, turning out a consistently solid team that has earned five straight bowl bids, posted a .672 winning percentage over the past five seasons, and captured four consecutive bowl championships.

Is it too much to expect Rutgers fans to come out in droves to support it? Is it too much to expect Rutgers Stadium to be a true, consistent home field advantage for the Scarlet Knights?

5. In their quest for their first Big East championship, can Schiano and Co. win a game they’re not supposed to?

With wins over Norfolk State, FIU, Tulane and Army, Rutgers could lose the Sept. 25 tilt vs. North Carolina and still be a respectable 4-1 in its non-conference slate. And considering the Big East portion of the schedule includes home games against the conference’s projected cellar dwellers — Syracuse and Louisville — six victories (and bowl-eligibility) should be the minimum Rutgers fans should expect this season.

While a home affair against Connecticut and a road tilt with USF will be challenging, they’re games Rutgers can reasonably expect to win. That leaves road matchups with Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and West Virginia — the top three teams in the Big East’s preseason poll — as the games the Scarlet Knights will need to steal to have a chance to contend for their first Big East championship.

It’s only happened twice in the Big East’s 19 seasons that teams with two conference losses (West Virginia/Connecticut in 2007 and Pitt/Boston College/West Virginia/Syracuse in 2004) earned a share of the league title. That means Schiano and Co. will need to not only win the games they’re supposed to, they’ll need to steal at least two more for Rutgers to earn its first Big East crown and the BCS berth that comes with it.

About Keith Sargeant

Keith Sargeant is a graduate of Middlesex County College and Kean University. A Home News Tribune staff writer since August 1997, Keith has been covering Rutgers sports since 2000, serving as the Scarlet Knights' football beat writer since 2006.

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5 thoughts on “5 questions facing Rutgers football program in ’10”

It is probably worth mentioning that the weather for just about every game last year was abysmal. It's hard to call out fans of a team that hasn't been in the conference race at all since 2006, the worst weather I've ever seen for a season of football and no interesting OOC games.

Blaming the bad weather is fair, but I'm not buying the complaints about the schedule. It shouldn't matter if Rutgers is playing Texas or Texas Southern since it's Rutgers you're coming out to support.

I give us a clear win over UNC as opposed to a loss or even a toss-up. Reason being is the NCAA investigation where is looking very likely that much of UNC's outstanding D will need to sit out until the investigation is concluded, and the wheels of justice turn slowly. I'd much rather have faced a full-strength UNC team as a solid OOC challenge before we get into BE play, but it is what it is.

I suppose maybe the schedule shouldn't matter. It just seems I read this stuff from the press every year, 'attendance should be better'. In Pitt's bets year in forever they had marginally better attendance than after our 3rd straight disappointing season, with no games that meant anything and almost every game in the rain.

There aren't many programs with a history as weak as RU that are selling out game after game. The attendance is getting better and better, it doesn't happen over night. You don't earn sellouts in perpetuity for one year of competing for a conference championship.

Keith, starting my football career at a SEC school, the fans don't always fill the stadium there either, the sellout and crowds were determined by the season tix and the number of student tickets allowed. The OOC schedule usually meant the change in distribution to the students. (ie. more), but accounting practices may have changed since the 80's but statistics are to be made to one's advantage. But remember in this day people want a something for their $, FIU/NFS/TSU/ dont cut it. We do let things slide if you win 9 or 10 but 8/7/6 wins and paying $2400 for six tix keeps us from biting the bullet to go to the crummy bowl in not so nice places. BIG PICTURE. Which carries over to the next season when sending that check for next season.

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About the Author

Jerry CarinoJerry Carino has covered sports for the Gannett New Jersey newspapers since 1996 and has been on the college basketball beat since 2003. A native of Old Bridge, he also teaches journalism at Kean University.E-mail Jerry

Josh NewmanJosh Newman has worked for the Press since September 2004 and began covering Shore Conference sports full time in September 2006. He is a 2004 graduate of Springfield College with a degree in communications/sports journalism.E-mail Josh

Ryan DunleavyRyan Dunleavy has covered Rutgers athletics for more than a decade, dating back to his days as a student at his alma mater. He became New Jersey Press Media’s Rutgers women’s basketball beat writer in 2009 and Rutgers football beat writer in 2013. Since joining the staff in 2004, the Morris County native also has covered the NFL, MLB, NBA, the Somerset Patriots and high school sports.E-mail Ryan